Just a mom who likes furniture projects and home improvement makeovers. See more at www.facebook.com/casadecassdesigns

Tag Archives: shabby

Over the months, I’ve had quite a few people approach me to quote them on painting custom pieces for them. I find that so cool. Not only do I get to make some extra $$ but I get to paint pieces of furniture that people will have in their homes for years. Wow.

This particular client had shared with me what she was looking for furniture wise and during my daily strolls through Craigslist I sent her links to things I thought would work. She found these great pieces…..

This long dresser:

2 of these night stands:

And a tall chest:

With these 5 drawers that I was too tired to put back in just for a photo op:

She decided she wanted the long dresser to be red with brushed nickel hardware. So I used milk paint in Barn Red and Salem Red and created a custom blend. Once painted and distressed, I used clear wax, then dark wax. Both from Annie Sloan.
Here’s a shot of the drawers with the left side waxed and the right side just painted and distressed. It really shows how the wax deepens the color:

Here’s the completed piece:

And the customary before/after comparison:

She then decided she wanted the tall chest and the nightstands to be painted black and distressed with gray hardware. She wanted a true black so I chose CeCe Caldwells chalk paint in Beckley Coal. She wanted a medium to heavy distress so here’s how they turned out after distress and clear waxing with Annie Sloan clear wax:

And the customary before/afters:

I was able to complete all 4 of these pieces in 3 days from start to finish. I loved the way they turned out, do you?

Most of my friends know that what started me on this DIYobsession adventure is seeing my friend Diane’s hutch redone. That rabbit hole led me to find Dumpster Diva but most of you don’t know I bought a table from her (DD) prior to learning how to do-it-myself!

We had a table (2 in fact). A formal dining table (as old as I am) that I bought from my grandparents and an “everyday” table we purchased back in 1999 for over $1000. Our everyday table was well loved and served us well but a little large for our current space. It had 6 chairs and 2 leaves and extended to 8′ long. When I bought my new table from DD I thought I would just sell my old table for a couple hundred bucks. No such luck. Because it was a lighter oak color,

No one wanted to pay a decent price for it. Never mind that the chairs were sturdy, table functioned great and it was solid wood. So….it sat in front living area making the place look like a furniture store. I considered painting it and then trying to sell it for more. But I worried that I would paint it white and potential buyers would want black or vice versa. And quite frankly I did not want to put forth the effort. So….it sat. And sat. And sat. Then my best friend Heather asked me if I would paint it for her. Suddenly I was motivated. Sort of.

I pestered her to death with pictures and “Do you like..?”‘s. She graciously told me what she liked and didn’t and we decided on a “shabby” white finish with a stained top. How hard could that be?

Well….I started sanding the top. I sanded for 8 hours, broke a sander, bought a new sander and managed to only sand 1/3 of the table. I sent Heather various texts expressing my absolute hatred for this stupid table. She lovingly thanked me for my hard work and listened to my venting. My neighbor came home and said “oh, you have the wrong type sander, wanna borrow my (better, faster, more expensive) sander?” DO I?!?!? Duh!!!! One hour with his nifty sander and table was all done. All done! One hour!! Boy did I feel stupid.

Here’s the table top laid out before sanding (garage lighting makes it look yellow, but it was really just a light pine or blonde oak color):

Here’s my teenager giving me a break and helping me sand:

Here’s the table top fully sanded and “raw”:

I painted all 6 chairs and the table base and tabletop edge in Annie Sloan’s Old Ochre and sealed with Annie Sloan clear wax. The table top was stained in MinWax Provincial and sealed with 7 coats of poly.

Here’s a before shot of a chair (those boogers were a pain to paint also!):

Here’s the chairs painted:

And here’s a step by step of the tabletop prior to poly:

Once we put the tabletop back on the base it really came together nicely and I began to like the way it turned out:

Man, that is one loooong table! Anyhow, after much temper tantrum venting on my part (through the entire table process) we were finally able to deliver the table to my dear friend Heather and see it set up in her dining room. Doesn’t it look great in there?

And I’m thrilled to say she was my first paying customer and I’m now working on a new piece for another client…I believe “Casa de Cass Designs” has been born 🙂

Back in February when I started researching redoing/updating furniture, I was told about Dumpster Diva. What is a Dumpster Diva you might ask? Well, it’s this neat lady that has an absolute gift for repurposing and redoing furniture. She has a shop in McKinney and she doesn’t throw away anything. What she also does do is teach painting classes. So…I decided I would take one. I figured if I could learn half as much as her, I’d be off to a great start. I told my mom about it and she decided to join me. Later, a friend of hers decided to join us also. The problem was Dumpster Diva was booked til April. Since you have most likely read my other blogs, you know I didn’t wait til this class to start painting 😉

So for $150 I signed up for a 4 hour painting class. Dumpster Diva (DD) provides all supplies except the paintbrush (she asked us to bring a Purdy Cub XL 2″ brush) and she even provided pieces from her “pickin’ pile” that we could choose from.

My mom and I saw a photo DD posted a few hours before the class of the pickin’ pile:

We got very excited and rushed right over to class. We were um, 75 minutes early 😉 but we wanted to know how the “pickin’ order” of this class went. I had my eye on the brown dresser to the right. When we arrived, DD said pickin’ order was first come so we rushed in the back and snagged our pieces. Success! The brown dresser was MINE ALL MINE!!

See…I wanted to find a dresser for my sons room; one I could try a 3 color technique on. The base color I wanted was brown so this was just perfect! Step 1 complete with no effort on my part! I chose Old Fashioned Milk Paint in Bayberry Green and Buttermilk to make what I had in mind.
I started out by painting the Bayberry Green haphazardly over the brown. Lets just say at that point I realized how industrious I was going to have to be to finish in the allotted time!

After the green dried I mixed up the buttermilk and went to town again quite haphazardly over the brown and green. Once all colors of all paint had dried I used a wet sponge to “wet distress” the piece and reveal more of the green and brown underneath.

I played with it a little to find the level of blending I wanted.

I used the same technique on the hardware and then I waxed the piece.
Here’s an updated pic after I got it home:

And the customary before & after:

Not too shabby, eh? And the most important part: my son loved it! I wish I could paint everything multiple layers – this technique is so much fun!
~T~